Unfocused Welcomes was released under the CDJazz label and is the second release from the 14-year-old Danish saxophone quartet Saxopaths. To read a review that I did of their first release please click on the following link Saxofonkvartetten, or visit the Music Scene section. When I heard that the Saxopaths had a second release I was excited to hear what this innovative and cutting edge quartet had been up to.

On their first release I was quite taken to hear four saxophones cutting through chords and riffs to create a compelling sound. Unfocused Welcome is a step in a different direction for the quartet as they infuse their sound with guest musicians. The opening and title track Unfocused Welcomes has the quartet rolling up their sleeves and sending out a welcome message to their guest musicians in their improvisation style - four guys and four saxophones with each taking their turn for a solo. Memories of Tilo introduces their first guest musician, Pierre Dørge on electric guitar, and his haunting guitar licks are in harmony with the layered sound of the saxophones; the quartet slows it down from their feverish pace of the opening track to produce a melancholy sound.

Stumble Dance for Nimble Feet has Marilyn Mazur on percussion keeping a sassy baseline in complement to the boys. The Danish track Stille Hjerte, Sol går ned (Quiet Heart, Sun Sets) had arranger Kristoffer J. Rosing-Schow suddenly feeling like he needed to add 6 vocals in the middle of the song so he called the singers from the Sokkelund Choir to assist him, and the resultant choral sound is exceptional. Bob Jackson Hard Work No Pay is a playful track and has the quartet and drums sauntering their way through this song with a carefree and whimsical style. Ausencia has a tango overtone that is produced via the saxophone and the band calls it gothic tango. Consolation is a ballad of over 8 minutes taking the listener on a series of interludes and changes with the addition of drums and double bass to hold down the baseline of the story.

Other tracks of note are Shout (a rowdy fanciful blues track), Adios introducing us to the bandoneon (a free reed instrument) that is popular in Argentina to produce the Tango sound, and closes with a lullaby style in GodNot (Good Night).